NOTES AND QUERIES.

Otago Witness, Issue 3583, 14 November 1922, Page 39

NOTES AND QUERIES.

Questions for reply in coming issue to be •eived not later than SATURDAY night. Questions will NOT be replied to through the poet

Beginner.—(l) You can procure books about radiophone at most of the leading booksellers at least in Dunedin. The trouble about some of these books is that it is sometimes difficult to procure the materials referred to in them from electrical engineering firms in New Zealand. We have been publishing useful and practical information for some weeks past, the articles having been selected especially because the materials mentioned are obtainable from a Dunedin firm. Study the articles which have appeared during the past three weeks. (2) There are as yet no public broadcasting stations, as up to tlie present the Government regulations for controlling radio operations have not been gazetted, and only temporary permits have been granted to private individuals who have been experimenting. Amateurs like yourself must remember that affairs of this kind cannot be rushed. Hawea Flat describes scurfy markings under calf’s chin, and questions if mangy puppy is the cause, etc. -“AgTicola” replies: Not likely. Rub on places, say, every other day a little sulphur paste made, say, with sulphur and oil or lard. Do this several times. Curio Collector. —We are unable to give you any idea of the value (if any) of a guinea note on the Huddersfield! Bank, dated 1913'. The only person we know who has made a hobby of collecting coins and curios suoli as you refer to is at present absent from the Dominion, and will not return for some months. Possibly you might discover the names and addresses of curio diealers in London by consulting the London directory at the local C P.O. As vbry few old coins and curios from the Oki Lands which have made their way to New Zealand have an intrinsic value that would repay the trouble of finding a purchaser, the best way to dispose of such things, when the owner does not possess their history, is to donate them to the public museum. D. M. (Oamaru). —The only authority on numismatics we are aware of is at present out of the Dominion Pandiculater. —Your best course is to consult a skilled medical raan before taking any steps. You may be a subject tlrnt might benefit by the treatment; but then, again, you may not be, and it might prove injurious. Cook. —A correspondent kindly supplies the following recipe for making rhubarb chutney, adding that it has proved good: slb rhubarb, cut as for jam; slb onions, minced; lib sultanas, minced; 3lb sugar; 2 tablespoonfuls salt; 1 dessert spoonful each mustard, ginger, chillies, and curry; 2 bottles vinegar; Boil 3 hours. Constant Reader asks (1) how to salt butter for storing purposes; (2) how to make household soap. (1) When making butter, stop churning when the size of mustard seed. Pour in a small quantity of cold water (one pint of water to tvfo quarts of cream) to harden the grains, and give two or three more turns to the churn gently. Draw off buttermilk, using straining cloth placed over a hair-sieve so as to prevent any loss, and wash the butter in churn with plenty of cold water, ltock the churn two or three times very gently, then draw off the water and repeat the process until the water comes off quite clear. Make a strong brine and pour into the churn through a hair-sieve. Rock the churn a few' times before drawing off the brine. Take out butter and work it on blitter-worker, draining thoroughly. Work gently till moisture is pressed out. Avoid using hands. (2) slb Clarified fat, lib resin, IID tin caustic, soda, 25 breakfast cups water. Put fat, resin, and water on the fire to boil; take off and' cool a little. Slowly add caustic soda. Replace on fire and boil an hour, or until it becomes rreamy and thick, stirring occasionally hour into a mould or box lined with a damp cloth until it sets. Inquisitive (Clydevale) asks: (1) What wages does a cadet get on the railway for & start? (2) To whom do you send your application form? (1) £7O the first year, £BS the second year, £IOO the. thud year, in addition to yearly payments if lodgings necessary away from home of £4O, £3O, and £2O respectively. (2) General Manager, Dunedin.

Kowiiai (Central) writes: Would you kindly give me a hint on germinating kowhai seeds? I have tried several times, but always with disappointing results. I have put them between flannel and soaked them in water for about a month and they are still as hard as iron. Kowhai seeds take about a couple of years when seeded in the bush in ordinary soil to germinate. It might be possible to hasten the process if seeds were soaked in hot water and then in oold water between flannels. These hard seeds vary in the thickness of their covering, and no definite time can well be fixed. Certainly hot water and subsequent moisture will answer, but one can over-do it, of couise. If planted in turfy soil in boxes and the soil kept always moist, in six months the seeds should be through the ground, but it is imperative that the moisture should not be allowed to evaporate.

Y. 0. C. (Vinton) writes: I have just prepared a plot of ground to be eowii down as a permanent lawn. (1) Could you advise the best variety or mixture of grasses to use to ensure a good lasting ~soie. A friend tells me that he has had a lawn for some years of . cocksfoot alone, and it compares favourably with any he has seen. (2) What manure would you recommend to be sown with the seed? “Agmcola'' replies : (1) Cocksfoot is a grand grass outside the homestead, but gets turfy when neglected. It depends on what sort ol lawn you require, but on soils of moderate quality the following mixture should answer : —Smooth stalk meadow grass (Poa pratensis), wood meadow grass (Poa Nemoralis), sheep’s fescue (Festuca ovma tenufolia), crested dogstail (Cynosurus cristatus). When soil is clayey or likely to become very dry in summer, a good lawn can be obtained by sowing fine bent grass (Agrostis stoionifera or Agrostis vulgaris) or some of Chewing’s rescue if soil is friable. It makes a capital lawn grass. Equal proportions of varieties to be used; up to, say, GOlb per acre. Nothing like a thick sowing if a sward is required quickly. Use, say, mixture of seed at the rate of an ounce to square yard. (2) I don’t think it necessary down W inton wai to use manure, but if poor land use ft little superphosphate, say, at rate of 3cwt per acre.

J. S. J. (Taieri Mouth).—Mr H. M. Davey replies:—ln your case I consulted Mr L. O. Beal, civil engineer and surveyor, who kindly replies that the ground is nine acres two roods and 20.7 poles. 1 maght add tllat this is entirely dependent on the accuracy of the measurements of your angle; if you are wrong in that, it would alter the contents of the hole.

G. J. D. (Albury).—Mr H. M. Davey replies: In this case I consulted Cossens and Black, engineers and iron founders, and one of their leading hands most kindly said that before he oould! advise me it would be necessary for you to indicate the kind of castings you proposed to make, for depending on the uses of the castings, the iron, for example, might be one of the various grades of pig iron, or again a mixture of pig and scrap, or again wholly of scrap iron, and there are many grades of each of these. He added that no trade secret was in the case. Then, with regard to what you term steel and iron, do ' T m mean the mixture of this as is employed for special work, where great wear is encountered? I was not able to meet then chief moulder, but through the kindness of Mr J. A. Brown, managing director of Messrs G. Methven and Co., founders and engineers, lam able to say that wliit-e sand' at Lookout Point is the sand used and as far as he knows there is no other suitable deposit in this island.

Subscriber asks for a recipe for Worcestershire sauce. Real W orcestershire sauce is one of the most complicated of condiments: 4 gallons vinegar (dark wine, it procurable, makes the best sauce), ground black pepper, 4oz ground mace, 4oz whole cloves, 4oz cayenne pepper, lib garlic (cut up fine), 16 bottles India or China soy (Crosse and Blackwell’s). The bottles of scy are the same size as those in which anchovy paste is sold. Place all the ingredients in a wide-mouthed jar and cover well. Stir daily for three weeks. Pour the whole into a preserving pan an > boil for • 20 minutes from the tims ot ebullition. Skim occasionally. Strain through a milk sieve into another vessel, then bottle and cork while hot. Care must l>e taken when bottling to keep stirring all the time, otherwise the last bottle will have all the pepper. These ingredients are for four gallons of sauce. This is ter a modified Worcestershire 'sauce; the formula for the real sauce is very expen sive and complicated!.

QUERIST writes: On the prohibition poll it is understood that there will be three ways of voting. Exactly what effect tne middle one of Government control Will have is not quite understood. Goes it stand by itself, or does it get added' to the continuance vote? An answer to this would be a help to many persons, for the question is often asked and not as often intelligently replied to. It would most certainly appear to be another form ol continuance! A voter must strike out two out of the three lines, otherwise the paper would be informal; in other words, a voter is entitled! to declare for only one issue. A vote for State control is counted as a vote against prohibition. Subscriber (Ida Valley).—Mr H. M. Davey replies: —This can be done either by mixing the pebbles in cement mortar and applying t3ie mixture to the places needed, or the cement m-grtar can be applied and the pebbles added by dashing them on when the cement mortar is beginning to set, but is soft enough to embed them. The former way is usually done here, for the other way entails more labour, though where the pebbles are coloured ones fcne appearance of a wall done that wav is preferable. If von have no experience m this work, as seems likely, could you not try some on a wail first so as to get into the way before doing it on a building? Of course, sand would be used, perhaps in either case; but more where the pebbles were dashed on after the cement, had been spread, when it would be, say, from three to four of clean sand to one of cement. T. L. C.—Mr 11. M. Davey, consulting engineer, 97 Frederick street, replies:—Are you sure of your figures, as usually both pipes are either the same diameter, or where the diameters differ, the suction is the greater. However, that is not exactly what you seem to want to know. Well, if you only want t-o pump about, say, 100 gallons per minute the pipes might be of either size, but if you want to pump more then the larger one would bs better. You will see this better if you realise that- under exactly similar conditions, of pressure and inclination of pipe line, a 4-inch pipe passes' 100 gallons per minute, while a 0-inch one passes 275 in a similar time. A good rule where it is possible to keep to it is not to force water to travel in a long line in pipes at more than, say, about a little more than 2'io feet per minute; now, a 4-inch pipe holds half a gallon per foot, and a vi-inch pipe nearly 1£ gallons per foot.

Learner. —lf you communicate with or call on Messrs Wilkie and Co-, Princes street, you will probably find a book suitable to your requirements.